Navigating the Web Hosting Maze: A Beginner’s Journey to Finding the Perfect Fit for Your Website
Generally speaking, web sites can be divided into one of three large categories: Personal/Small Business Homepages, E-Commerce Web Sites, and Information Providers. The type of host you choose depends a great deal on what category your site falls into. The next section is dedicated to discussing each of these three major categories, and which type of host is best suited to each category.
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Personal Homepage/Small Business Website:
Given the smaller size and basic nature of personal or small business websites, Virtual Hosting or Free Hosting are the two feasible options. These options cater to sites with modest disk space and bandwidth requirements.A personal homepage or small business website is generally the smallest and most basic type of web site, and does not require a lot of disk space or bandwidth. As a result, you have one of two plausible options when choosing the type of web host for your site, Virtual or Free Hosting.
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E-Commerce Website:
E-Commerce websites, involving the sale of goods, demand a more complex structure, increased traffic handling, and higher data transfer capabilities. For such sites, three viable solutions include Co-location, Dedicated Server, and Virtual Hosting.If you plan to offer goods for sale on your website, your site will be far more complex, and also need to be able to handle more traffic and data transfer. For E-Commerce sites, there are three viable solutions: Co-location, Dedicated Server, and Virtual Host.
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Information Provider:
Information Providers, often the largest sites on the web, necessitate robust capabilities to handle substantial traffic. Consequently, a more serious and relatively costlier approach to web host is required. For larger sites serving as global information sources, considerations include investing in personal server equipment, opting for a Co-location Server, or selecting a Dedicated Server.Information Providers are generally the largest types of sites on the web, and must be designed to handle a lot of traffic. That being the case, Information Providers usually must take a more serious, and more costly approach to web hosting. If you are going to be creating a larger site that will be used as a source of information to users around the world, consider either investing in your own server equipment, choosing a Co-location Server, or a Dedicated Server.
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Virtual Hosting:
Virtual Hosting is a type of hosting where you “rent” space in a large server, and share that server with other web sites. The advantages of Virtual Host are that it is extremely cost efficient, and offers a variety of functions and options to suit nearly any site. The disadvantages of Virtual Host, however, are that you are at the complete mercy of the server. If you happen to pick a bad server, your site could be down for long periods of time, costing you lots of potential visitors that will not come back a second time.
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Free Hosting:
Free Hosting is a type of host where you get space in a larger site for free, provided that you allow the site to advertise on your homepage. The advantages of Free Host are that it costs nothing, and therefore requires no investment other than a little bit of time. Free Host programs also do provide a number of good options for your site, and allow you to create a fully functional, attractive web site for free. Although it does have a number of advantages, Free Host also has an equal number of disadvantages. With nearly all free hosts, users can not use an individual domain name, but typically are forced to use something like this www.theirname.com/yourname. In addition, Free Host packages offer limited space and file transfer, and do not offer options like email.
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Co-location Hosting:
Co-location hosting is a type of host that uses your server equipment located in a secure, state of the art facility in another location. The most significant positive aspect of Co-location hos is that it provides you with the ultimate in control over the speed and reliability of your site. With Co-location, your site is basically as good as you want it to be. The most significant negative aspect of Co-location is that it is rather expensive. Servers do not come cheaply, nor do the technicians that you will need to look after it. As a result, Co-location is the least attractive option based on the high initial cost, but is an excellent alternative for extremely serious or financially-free webmasters.
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Dedicated Server Hosting:
Dedicated Server hosting is a type of hosting where you rent an entire server, and is a good solution for serious webmasters lacking the initial startup capital to purchase their own server. Dedicated Server host offers a high degree of control, and offers a lot of disk space and file transfer. Because your site is the only one being served by your dedicated server, you can also count on a fast connection. The advantages of Dedicated Server host is that it offers everything you need to get top quality service, without having to purchase a server. The disadvantages are that it is significantly more expensive than Virtual Host, and does not offer the same levels of control that are available with Co-location hosting.